ED summons Himachal CM for questioning in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has again summoned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for questioning in a money laundering case registered against him, his wife and others, an official said on Monday.

The Congress leader has been asked to appear before the Investigating Officer on April 13 to get recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The agency had summoned him earlier too but he had then excused himself by referring to his official commitments. It has already questioned his wife Pratibha Singh and son Vikramaditya Singh.

In the first week of April, the Enforcement Directorate had attached Virbhadra Singh's Delhi farmhouse worth Rs 27.29 crore in the case.

The agency's move came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Virbhadra Singh and others last month for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs 6.03 crore.

A court here on Monday fixed April 24 to consider the CBI charge sheet.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Lawan Kumar Roach, Vakamullah Chandrashekhara and Ram Prakash Bhatia in 2015 following the CBI's FIR dated September 23, 2015.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Virbhadra Singh, as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012, allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

--IANS

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